The Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office has dropped all charges against a University of Maryland student arrested in February after police said he threatened to shoot officers.
The charges against 21-year-old Ryan Sulkowski included a threat of mass violence, a false statement to a state official and disturbing school operations, according to documents on the District Court of Maryland’s website.
University Police arrested Sulkowski on Feb. 25. He is still denied access to the campus despite the dropped charges, said police spokesperson Sgt. Rosanne Hoaas.
“If he is found on our property, he is subject to arrest,” she wrote in an email.
A university spokesperson could not confirm whether Sulkowski is a current or former student, but did note that his last completed semester was fall 2017. In February, a lawyer for Sulkowski said he would not be returning to this university.
[Read more: Police arrest UMD student suspected of threatening to shoot officers]
John Erzen, a spokesperson for the state’s attorney’s office, said the charges were dismissed because there was “insufficient evidence to sustain” them.
“The threat of mass violence is very specific about what is required — what has to happen — in order for someone to be guilty,” Erzen said.
For someone to be convicted of a threat of mass violence, according to the Maryland General Assembly’s website, prosecutors must prove that five or more people were placed in reasonable fear that a crime would be committed, and they had to evacuate, leave or remain in a “dwelling, storehouse, or public place” because of the threat.
[Read more: Court dismisses ex-student’s lawsuit claiming UMD wrongfully expelled him for sexual assault]
Erzen said all charges were dropped without ever going to court, but the false statement to a state official charge might be revisited. The state’s attorney’s office is requiring Sulkowski to get mental health counseling as part of the settlement, he said. If Sulkowski complies and attends for at least six months, that charge will not be revisited.
“Anyone who would make the threat that he has alleged to made, certainly there could be something going on there,” he said. “We are certainly pleased that there is mental health counseling that is involved here, so that if there are issues that are addressed, he can get some help here.”
Sulkowski’s lawyer, Ronald Schwartz, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.